Saturday, 4 October 2014

Porirua Parkrun

It seemed strange that my first foray into the park run scene should be at the other side of the world. We had travelled south through New Zealand's North island and we had a couple of days to wait before the crossing from Wellington to Picton on the south island.

Always on the lookout for an international race experience, I found a parkrun and a nearby spot to park the camper van for a few days. I caught the train to race start and arrived before anyone else, a little perplexed as to whether I had found the right place. This was a well oiled race, the organisers arrived about 40 minutes before race start and I met a host of friendly regular faces that seemed genuinely interested that I had chosen Porirua as my first park run. It made me feel further welcome when at the gathering before race start the organiser introduced me as a foreign visitor from the UK and I received a round of applause!

Almost home in 2nd place.

The race was out and back up a gradual incline to half way. I think I led the race for a while before a local overtook me and extended his lead. I was surprised to return down the incline in second position in a time of 19 minutes 31 seconds, a time that I haven't managed to better at UK park runs since I've returned home. In hindsight I must have been fairly fit at this stage of my travel expedition. My first park run was a very enjoyable experience.